Accumulator



` Sheet 1'.

2 Sheets 0. o. WORTHINGTON.

(No Model.)

ACGUMULATOR;

X IA.

Patented Feb. 3, 1891.

No. 445,9l'7.

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` UNITED STATES PATENT 'OEEIGE CHARLES C. VORTIIINGTON, OF IRVINGTON, NEW YORK.'

ACCUMULATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 445,917', dated February 3, 1891. i

Application filed October 1l, 1887. Serial No. 252,008. (No model.)

1lb all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES C. WORTH- INGTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Irvington, county of lVestchester, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Accumulators, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to improvements in an accumulator which is especially designed and adapted for use in connection with the compensating cylinders of an engine having` the general characteristics of those shown and described in Letters Patent Nos. 2 2,52 309,676, 332,857, and 311,534, heretofore granted to me.

In the last of said Letters Patent the pressure in the compensating cylinders is derived from the force-main of the pump, the press ure in the main being transmitted through a volume of air or other gas to the larger end of the plunger of an accumulator, and thence from the smaller end of the plunger through a body of liquid tothe pistons ofthe compensating cylinders, the pressure by this means being multiplied so as to be greater in the compensating cylinders than in the force-main.

The organization shown in the present case is as toits general features substantially the same as that shown in said Letters Patent. The construction and arrangement of the accumulator and its connections with the forcemain are, however, somewhat changed, as will be hereinafter explained.

One feature of the present invention relates especially to a means 'for packing the piston of the accumulator.

In order to convey a full understanding of the invention it will be necessary todescribe it in detail, and all preliminary description will therefore be omitted and a full description given, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the water end or pump proper of a duplex pumpingengine provided with compensating cylinders and an accumulator constructed and arranged according to the present invention, the section being taken between the two pump-cylinders forming the water end of the engine.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the accumulator. Fig. 3 is a still more enlarged view of the same.

Referring to said figures, it is 'to be understood that F represents one of the two watercylinders forming the water end of an ordinary duplex pumping-engine, 101 the forcemain, and102 the usual air-chamber with which the force-main is provided.

50 represents the two compensating cylinders for one side of the engine, which are conneet-ed to the piston-rod 20 of that side of the engine, and to a link 78 for operating the valves of the opposite side of the engine, in the manner described in my Letters Patent No. 332,857, hereinbefore referred to.

The operation of the compensating cylinders need not be herein described, as it` has been described in the several Letters Patent hereinbefore referred to, and is now well understood in the art.

The accumulator, as herein shown, is arranged in a horizontal position, although it may, if preferred, be arranged in a vertical position. The accumulator consists of a cylinder 5l, which is connected by a pipe 37 with the hollow trunnions of the cylinders 50, the

same as in the Letters Patentbefore referred to, and is provided at one end with a stuffingboX, through which passes the smaller end of a differential plunger 52, the larger end of which forms a piston 3G, which works in a cylinder 53, which communicates ata point beyond the piston by a pipe 54 with the airchamber 102. rlhe cylinder 51 and its connections with the compensating cylinders are filled with water, oil, or other liquid. By means of this arrangement the air-pressure in the chamber 102, which is equivalent to .the pressure in the force-main, is transmitted to the piston 36, forming the larger end of the plunger 52, and is then, by reason of the difference in area of the two ends of the plunger, multiplied and transmitted through the volume of liquid which fills the cylinder 51 and connections to the compensating cylinders, and thus, in the manner described in the prior Letters Patent referred to, operates IOO to offer a gradually-decreasing resistance to the engine during the [i1-st part ot the stroke and a gradually-increasing assistance durin the last part ot' the stroke. It is to be understood, however, that the pressure upon the larger end of the plunger 52, instead ot' being derived from the force-main, maybe derived from any other suitable source-as, for instance, from a specialy air-chamber in which air is maintained at the proper` pressure by an air-compressor operated by the engine or otherwise. l

The proper supply of liquid in the cylinder 51 and its connections can be maintained by means of a very small pump which may be operated by the engine or otherwise and arranged to inject a small amount of the liquid from time to time as it may be required to compensate for leakage or other loss.

In order to prevent the air from leaking past the piston 36, it is desirable to provide that piston with a liquid packing. 'Vhere the accumulator is arranged in a vertical po- 'vided with a petcock 4'7.

sition, as inthe Letters Patent before referred to, this is readily accomplished by allowing a small body of water to rest upon the top of the piston. This manner of packing the piston is not, however, available where the accumulator is arranged in a horizontal position. To meet this change in the position of the accumulator, the piston 36 is made hollow and is provided with a number ot' openings 4, which open outward through the periphery of the piston and communicate with openings 5, formed in a metal packing-ring `8, which latter openings communicate with a circumferential groove 6, formed around the periphery of the ring. At the sides of the ring 8 the piston is provided with yielding packing-rings 7, all of which packing-rings are held in place by an ordinary clampingring l1, bolted onto the end of the piston. The piston 36 'is provided with a tube 39, which communicates with the space within the piston and passes through a stuffing-box in the end of the cylinder 53, and thence through a small cylinder or chamber 43 and through a stuffing-box in the end of the latter. The tube 39 is provided within the chamber 43 with an opening 1,by which communication is established between the chamber 43 and the hollow space within the piston 36. The chamber 43 communicates by a pipe 45 with the force-main 101. By this means the water from the main passes into and fills the chamber 43, and passing thence through the opening 1 and tube 39 enters and iills the hollow piston, and emerging through the openings 4 5 passes into the channel G, and thus forms a water ring or packing entirely around the piston. The pipe 45 is provided with a cock or valve 46, by which the water can be shut ott from the chamber 43 and its connections, and the pipe 39 is pro- 'lhe water may otl course be supplied to the interior of the piston 30 from any other convenient source. It

will also be desirable to make the packingring S concave upon its inner periphery, as shown, in order to insure a passage `for the water through the openings 5 in case the ring should move so as to carry the openings 4 5 out of register.

lt sometimes happens, owing to a change in the character or amount ot work which the engine is to perform, that it is desirable to cause the compensating cylinders to develop a less amount of power without changing the relative sizes of the two ends of the plunger 52 or the pressure at the source from which the pressure upon the larger end of the plunger is derived. 'lo meet this requirement the pipe 54 is provided with a check-valve 48, which opens outwardly so as to allow the air to pass freely out of the cylinder 53, but closes it so as to preventthe air from passing into the cylinder. The pipe is, however, provided with a by-pass 4f), which passes around the valve 4S, and is provided with a spring-coutrolled pressure-reducing valve 55, or any of the well-known forms of so-called pressureregulating"7 valves, which opens toward the cylinder. The spring 56,' which controls the valve 55, is provided with an adjusting-screw 57, by which its tension can be adjusted so as to put any desired degree of pressure upon the valve. By this means, since any air passing to the cylinder 53 must raise and pass the valve 55, the pressure in the cylinder will be reduced below the pressure in the pipe 54, and the amount of this difference can be regulated by adjusting the tension of this spring 5G. Frein this construction it results that the pressure in the accumulator-cylinder is not necessarily uniform, but varies with and although always less bears a certain relation to the pressure in the pipe 54 and chamber 102. To illustrate, let it be assumed that it is desired to have the pressure in the accumulator-cylinder lift-y pounds less than the pressure in the chamber 102 and pipe 54. In such case the spring 56 will be so adjusted as to exert a closing-pressure upon the Valve equal to fifty pounds. Now it will be readily seen that so long as the pressure in the pipe 54 and chamber 102 does not exceed fty pounds the valve will remain closed and no pressure will be transmitted to the accumulator-piston. As soon, however, as the pressure in the pipe 54 rises above titty poundssay to one hundred pounds-the valve will be opened against .the tension of the spring 56, and the fluid will pass from the pipe 54 into the accuinitiator-cylinder, and this will continue until a pressure of slightly more than fifty pounds is established in the accumulator-cylinder. As soon as the pressure in the accum-ulator-cylinder reaches slightly more than fifty pounds this pressure, together with the spring 5G, exerts a" closing pressure of slightly more than one hundred pounds upon the valve, and will consequently close the valve against the pressure of one hundred pounds in the pipe 54 and prevent the further IOO admission ot' the fluid and the further increase of pressure iu the accumalator-cylin der. lf the pressure in the accumulator-cylinder falls by leakage or otherwise, the valve will be again opened and admit the fluid to the cylinder until the proper pressure is restored. It the pressure in the pipe 5l and chamber 102 rises, the valve 55 will be opened to admit the fluid to the accumulator-cylinder until the pressure in that cylinder has been correspondingly raised; but the valve will always close when the pressure in the accumulator-cylinder has risen to within titty pounds of that which exists in the pipe 5a. lf at any time, however, through the breakage of the force-main or any other cause, the pressure of the air in the cylinder 53 becomes greater than that which exists in the pipe 54, the Valve 4S will rise and allow the air to pass quickly into the pipe 54 and thus establish a proper equilibrium and automatically control the force exerted by the compensating cylinders 50. The cylinder 53 will also, preferably be provided with a safety-Valve 79, which will be so set that any excess over the required air-pressure in the cylinder occasioned by leakage past the valves 4S 55 will be relieved.

The construction of the plunger 52 of the accumulator is not herein claimed, as the same is claimed in my application for Letters Patent filed October 29, 1887, Serial No. 253,75l.

What I claim is- 1. In. a"pumping-engine, the combination, with the main steam cylinder and its piston, of a compensating-cylinder or cylinders hav; ing` a piston or pistons arranged to oier a gradually-decreasing resistance to the piston of the main cylinder during,` the tirstpart of the stroke and a gradually-increasing assistance during the last part ot its stroke, an accu mulator connected with the force-main of the engine and transmitting` pressure to the compensating cylinder or cylinders, and an adjustable pressure-reducing Valve between the accumulator and the force-main, whereby the pressure transmitted to the compensating` cylinder or cylinders may be adjusted, substantially as described.

2. The'combination, with the accumulator and the pressure-reducing valve, ofthe safety- CHARLES C. WORWTING'ION.

Witnesses:

D. H. JOHNSON, WARREN P. JoHNsoN. 

